Menlo Park Railroad Station · Photo: Ron Reiring from Inland Empire of Southern California, USA · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Menlo Park are among the highest of any U.S. town
For jobs and income Menlo Park is better than 88% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (A+). Measured by household income, Menlo Park is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Below the poverty line: 5.8% of residents, against 12.0% across California.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Menlo Park
Menlo Park fills up on a workday
Menlo Park has 56,498 jobs, 3.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 75,000 people are in town, more than double the 33,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Menlo Park has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Menlo Park went from 29,594 in 2013 to 56,498 in 2023, +91%. The jobs ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
83% of Menlo Park’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 94% of the jobs based in Menlo Park. The jobs ↓
A lot of Menlo Park works from home
32% of Menlo Park workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Menlo Park is services
90% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 6% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Menlo Park
Household income holds Menlo Park’s grade up ($210,025, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Menlo Park could be anywhere from A− to A.
A workday in Menlo Park: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 12,862 residents head out to work, 1,748 work right here, and 54,750 people come in from elsewhere.
About 75,000 people are in Menlo Park on a workday afternoon, 128% more than live here.
3.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Most jobs in Menlo Park are in services
56,498 jobs are based in Menlo Park.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Menlo Park, 2013 → 2023: 29,594 → 56,498. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Menlo Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Menlo Park takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Menlo Park workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,045 commuters (the 32% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The towns that send workers to Menlo Park
Where Menlo Park clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How far it is to work from Menlo Park
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Menlo Park is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 16,340 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 37% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 22% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.9% of Menlo Park households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Menlo Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
Menlo Park is 276th of 1,283 U.S. towns of 23,000 to 44,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 274 | Fairfax VA | 26,772 | $132K | 9.1% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| 275 | Orion Township MI | 38,882 | $119K | 4.6% | 4.2% | 9% | A |
| 276 | Menlo Park CA | 32,713 | $210K | 5.8% | 4.8% | 12% | A |
| 277 | Perrysburg OH | 25,441 | $112K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 13% | A |
| 278 | Rockaway Township NJ | 27,728 | $142K | 4.0% | 5.5% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,283 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Menlo Park, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 23% of Menlo Park
The biggest share goes to Palo Alto (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Menlo Park workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menlo Park | – | A | A+ | 24 min | $210,025 |
| Palo Alto | 11% | A | A+ | 21 min | $231,101 |
| East Palo Alto | under 3% | B+ | A | 24 min | $113,493 |
| Redwood City | 5% | A | A | 24 min | $157,814 |
| West Menlo Park | under 3% | A | A+ | 21 min | $250,000+ |
| Atherton | under 3% | A+ | A | 23 min | $250,000+ |
| Stanford | 7% | A | A+ | 15 min | $75,208 |
| Fremont | under 3% | A | A+ | 30 min | $181,506 |
| Woodside | under 3% | A+ | A− | 29 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Menlo Park’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Menlo Park: questions
What is the median household income in Menlo Park?
$210,025 (±$20,341) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Menlo Park?
5.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Menlo Park?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Menlo Park work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Palo Alto (11%, 6 mi), San Francisco (9%, 25 mi), Stanford (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Menlo Park walkable?
Menlo Park is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.9 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Menlo Park without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 22% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Menlo Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Menlo Park
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.